Session One - Open House

The first session of the Cook Arts Center's summer program has come to an end, and last night we celebrated the achievements of our participants over the past four weeks. Our B2B guest, Hugo Claudin, was also here to share valuable information about the B2B Program and the importance of family and community in order for our students to succeed. After prize raffles and performances by the students everyone shared some food from Sabor Latino, one of our neighborhood restaurants, and students had the chance to show off their work to parents and families. Our amazing instructors got the chance to show parents all of the amazing work their kids have been doing. Josh Dunigan teaches music, Karla Galvin teaches clay, Cat Timermanis teaches Visual Arts, Sara Schneider teaches dance and Nancy Gallardo teaches theater. Session One was great and we're looking forward to Session Two which starts on Monday, July 25th.

Estefania brings over some small bongos to show her dad some of the rhythms she learned with Mr. Josh. Students formed a drum circle to show their parents what they've learned.


Avelycia, Antonio, Sarahi and Catherine proudly show off their paintings of the Taj Mahal. Students learned about India with Ms. Cat Timermanis and created fabulously detailed images of the beautiful Indian monument.



Students and their families take a look at some of the fabulous elephant and 'mehndi' paintings. Mehndi is the traditional art of hand decorating done with the henna plant in India.


Students performed a short Scottish poem that they learned from Ms. Nancy Gallardo. When they used the strong Scottish accent they learned, it almost seemed like they were speaking another language!


Throughout the session students learned about other famous artists including Piet Mondrian. While creating paintings in the style of Mondrian, students were learning about primary colors, parallel and perpendicular lines, and about how math is important all the time, even in art!


Ms. Nikki Feenstra from the YMCA Health & Nutrition program was also here, offering smoothies and healthy recipes to our families at the open house.

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center.